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Insulation in detached garage

12-20-2007, 08:46 AM

Hello all, I have a detached garage that I currently use as my home wood shop. This is my first winter in at as I relocated everything from the basement. I have old and actual 2x4 walls that are 14" oc, this leaves me with 12" of spacing between wall studs. What are my best insulation options? I believe I am limited to R13 or R15 faced fiberglass insulation. I don't know if I could compress the standard 15" into the cavities or if there is a chance 23" insulation could fit if cut in half and not leave any spaces. Thanks in advance for any help.

12"s between your studs times 2 = 24"s, so the answer is no on 23" Blanket Insulation, 1/2" is a pretty good size gap, try leaving your front door open 1/8" to your house, not good. Buy rigid foam insulation, rip it to your needs on a TB saw. It would be nice to have a 2nd person to help you with the ripping part. Or hire a professional insulation company and have it spray foamed in. By doing the job right, you'll save money in heat, and keep the heat out in the summer time. If you don't like to use your TB saw for the ripping, a straight bar and skill saw should do it. Good luck.....

PS, you can get a better R-value with the rigid foam boards...

Great Link for a Construction Owner/Tradesmen, and just say Garager sent you....

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also if you use this foam board, i think i would tape or caulk it to the 2x4s and around any penrtations. and make sure you do the ceiling, i have seen quite a few shed shop ceilings not done, and they always complain.

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"i have seen quite a few shed shop ceilings not done, and they always complain."

How true. I have insulated my ceiling in my detached garage, but not the walls yet. Just doing the ceiling has kept it so much cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter w/o even turning on any heat. I have a remote temperature sensor from a indoor/outdoor wireless thermometer in the shop and can see the shop temp from in the house. Helps me decide if I want to get out there and work or not.

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Guys, Thanks for the replys. I put new joists in the cieling for storage about 7 years ago when we bought the house and standard 23 inch batts will fit and the joists are 2x6 so that will help. As for the rigid insulation, I did not even think of that as I thought the R value would not be nearly as high (guess I have some more research to do). Also regarding the metal studs, I did hear that for the metal studs they have 24 inch insulation, but I can't find it at our home centers. After some more research, I will have to try one of my local building supply stores. Thanks again.

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Are your exterior walls open or are you thinking of stuffing insulation down the cavities?

If the latter then you are in for a treat - it won't work...

If the former (open walls) then you can buy the larger batts and just cut them to size. Most home centers will have a batt knife (just a long blade nad a wood or plastic hand;e). Then you can cut to fit. Cutting insulation is simple - just be sure to wear a respirator, eye protection and long sleeved COTTON shits and gloves (wool will build up a HUGE amount of static electricity).

The other option is blow cellulose into the walls before rocking them up. Cellulose will give you a great R value plus provide nice sound attenuation properties too... Ask a local insulation company about 'dense packing' the walls.

BTW - R-13's are much cheaper than R-15...

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Thanks again guys. I went and got some 24 inch bats (the ones for metal studs) from a construction supply company in my town for the small angles on my ceiling and installed the foam under the insulation. For the walls I went with R15. I e-mailed the manufacturer and they said I could do it if I cut an inch off. Well I put in the R15 and found that if I did not unfold the stapling edge, it actually fit in relatively easily without the 1 inch cut off. I used R19 23 inch bats on the flat part of the ceiling. All my walls and ceiling are open, so installation was easy. Now I just have to save for next winter for a good heater. For now I will just use my dads torpedo and prop the door open while it is running. Quite the pain, but a cheap altenative till next winter. The only good part is once heated, it should now stay relatively warm.